Half-Blood Prince runs rampant in China and Russia

The sixth Harry Potter adventure produced the biggest launch in the series in China as Rmb 82.2m ($12.8m) from 575 screens drew an audience of 2.7m. In the latest sign of China’s burgeoning film market, the studio said Half-Blood Prince surpassed its predecessor Order Of The Phoenix by 110%.

Russia generated the all-time highest opening weekend for Warner Bros as Rbl 287.1m (US$8.8m) drew 1.8m admissions to 915 screens, beating Order Of The Phoenix by 53%.

Latest figures reveal that many territories actually delivered higher grosses than originally thought on Sunday (see below) as the film set a new $236m international opening weekend record that played its part in a best-ever $394m global launch over five days. Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince was active in approximately 15,800 screens in 84 markets and drew an overseas audience of 34m from roughly 13,300 sites in the franchise’s widest release yet.

Records tumbled, including the biggest international IMAX launch yet on $3.6m from 62 screens, beating the previous mark set by Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen.

It had been a little over two years since Harry Potter last waved his wand in anger – a time lag made longer when Warner Bros pulled the film from its autumn 2008 slot to ensure it had a summer blockbuster – and fans were hungry to reunite with their beloved conjuror.

Half-Blood Prince was rampant. In the UK it scored the second biggest launch of all time behind Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban as 584 sites yielded $32.1m (£19.8m) and 3.2m admissions. The result was 21% higher than the opening of Order Of The Phoenix in 2007.

In Germany, $236m (€16.49.m) and 2.1m admissions from 1,300 screens was 20% higher than the predecessor and produced the fourth biggest industry debut and the biggest of 2009. France generated $20.4m (€14.m) and 2.4m admissions from 964 screens for the third biggest debut for a non-local release and the biggest of the year-to-date. Again, Half-Blood Prince was 179% ahead of its predecessor.

In other notable results:

• Japan – $18.m (¥1.7bn) and 1.4m admissions from 843screens, beating HP5 by 8%;
  
  
• Australia – biggest industry opening weekend on $14.7m (AUD $18.7m) and 1.8m admissions from 510 screens, beating HP5 by 10%;
  
  
• Italy – third biggest industry opening weekend on $13.8m (€9.9m) and 1.6m admissions from 928 screens, beating HP5 by 11%;
  
  
• Spain – second biggest Warner Bros weekend on $9.7m (€7m) and 1.2m admissions from 751 screens, trailing HP5 by 9% but beating all others in the franchise;
  
  
• Mexico – Warner Bros’ biggest launch and the third biggest industry opening weekend on $9.1m (Ps 124.1m) and 2.7m admissions from 1,545 screens, beating HP5 by 13%;
  
  
• Brazil – Warner Bros’ biggest opening weekend and industry’s second biggest opening weekend on $8.1m (R$16.1m) and 1.8m admissions from 733 screens, beating HP5 by 29%;
  
  
• South Korea – second biggest launch for Warner Bros behind Order Of The Phoenix on $7.6m (KRW 10.1bn) and 1.4m admissions from 625 screens. On a par with HP5’s Thursday-Sunday opening weekend in Seoul.
  

The Hangover added $5.8m from 1,865 screens in 34 territories for $84.2m and opens in Germany on July 23. So far the comedy has grossed $29.5m in the UK, $14.5m in Australia, $8.4m in France, $5.1m in Russia, $3.8m in Italy, and $3.4m in Holland.

• Fox International’s Ice Age 3 continued its magnificent run, soaring past $400m as $60.7m from 11,222 screens in 102 markets boosted the running total to $429m and more than $580m worldwide.

Executives said drops were “very moderate”, with the animated film down only 40% against last weekend and ranking second in most markets behind Half-Blood Prince.

After three weekends the film is now the biggest industry release of all time in Russia on $39.7m, Mexico on $30.5m, Colombia on $4.9m, and Peru on $3.8m. It is the second biggest release ever in Brazil on $27.9m, Venezuela on $6.2m, and Chile on $4.7m.

Fox International’s top brass expect the film to overtake Ice Age 2’s $456m international tally by the end of the week.

• Elsewhere, the Nia Vardalos comedy My Life In Ruins grossed $738,000 from 202 screens in Australia, New Zealand and Puerto Rico, ranking seventh in Australia on $678,000 from 175.
  
  
• PPI’s Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen stands on the cusp of $400m after four weekends as a further $15.3m from 8,317 sites in 63 territories raised the tally to $398m. Highlight territories are China on an extraordinary $62.2m, South Korea on $36.3m, the UK on $41m, and Australia on $29.5m.
  
  
• Bruno added a further $10.6m from 2,400 sites in 30 territories for $46m. The comedy took $8.3m from 1,459 sites in the eight Universal/UPI territories for a Universal tally of $36.3m and is set to cross the $100m worldwide mark this week. Mandate International territories accounted for $1.5m for a $7.1m tally, while Sony markets have generated $2.6m to date.

In the Universal/UPI markets, the film ranks third in the UK after adding $3.7m from 457 sites for $16.8m, ahead of the arrival this week of the 15-rated version in Universal’s innovative move to cater to fans aged below 18. Latest tallies put it on an excellent $9m in third place in Australia, $5m in third place in Germany, $1.8m in the Netherlands, and $1.2m in Austria, which holds a special place for Sacha Baron Cohen’s outlandish creation.

• Universal/UPI’s Public Enemies added $4.3m from 1,600 sites in 20 territories for an early $24.1m and has amassed $7.1m in France and $9.3m in the UK. There are 47 more territories to open including Russia on July 23. State Of Play stands at $47.8m and will open across Latin America over the next two months.
  
  
• Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International’s The Proposal added $3.4m from 2,120 sites in 23 territories for $48.1m, buoyed by a $851,000 second weekend in Spain on 341 screens that elevated the running total to $2.9m. Latest figures put Australia on $11.8m, Brazil on $2.7m, and Holland on $2.7m.
  
  
• Hannah Montana The Movie added $1.4m from 1,755 screens in 30 territories for $67.6m, while Pixar’s Up stands at $54.7m with France, Spain, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan set to receive the film in two weeks.
  
  
• Sony Pictures Releasing International’s (SPRI) Angels & Demonshas reached $347.6m and TerminatorSalvation has reached $210m through SPRI and $235.8m overall. The Taking Of Pelham 123stands at $6.2m and opened in second place in Argentina on $300,000 from 47 screens.